Archive for social media platforms

A little while ago I came across this image. At first I had a good chuckle but then I thought that, actually, it might be a good idea to write a little blog about it, as all the different social media platforms we have access to now do need a little explanation. So, here it is, social media explained..

‘I’m eating bacon’. Twitter gets a lot of stick for being seen as just being full of celebrities, and mortals, posting about what they are eating for lunch. And, while this does happen, it is also about so much more. The reason the post is so exact though (I’m eating bacon’ is because posts on Twitter (tweets) are limited to 140 characters. This doesn’t give room to say much and you do need to be direct and to the point but you can always link to website post or blog to make your point understood.

‘I like bacon’. You do have a lot more characters to play with in a Facebook post (it used to be 420 but is now pretty much unlimited) and, as this infographic alludes, people are much more likely to be friendly and chatty/emotional on Facebook. This probably lies in its mass appeal and stems from its original purpose which was to connect with friends. Interestingly, if you put the works ‘like’ into a post it is more likely to be ‘liked’…

‘I have skills including eating bacon’. Linked in is the social media platform of the male office worker. 79% of LinkedIn users are over 35, and it’s also the only main social media site where men outnumber women. The main use of LinkedIn is by professional individuals to connect with other professional individuals and share information about their industry or look to recruit/be recruited. A LinkedIn profile is akin to an online CV that is fully accessible to any potential employer 24 hours a day.

‘This is where I eat bacon’. Foursquare is a location based social media platform where users ‘check-in’ to places they are visiting. This is mostly restaurants, bars, clubs and social locations. They can review the location and see if anyone else they know on Foursquare is there. Venues can also offers rewards for checking-in and have the advantage of accessing enhanced customer information and user experience.

‘Watch me eat my bacon’. YouTube is the second most used search engine on the web and owned by Google (the most used). YouTube is a wealth of information and knowledge for users who think visually with videos on almost every subject you can imagine available at the touch of a few keys. Yes, you probably can watch someone eat bacon but you can also learn how to strip and rebuild an engine or make a piece of furniture.

‘Here’s a vintage photo of my bacon’. Instagram is a photo sharing platform that enables you to easily put effects onto your pictures, that is now owned by Facebook and has come under a lot of bad press recently. This is because Instagram have changed their terms to say that if you continue to have an Instagram account you give them the rights to sell your images commercially. Personally I would advise staying well clear of this platform. If you prefer to use a visual platform then try Pinterest.

‘Here’s a recipe with bacon’. Pinterest is a relatively new social media platform that has gained a lot of positive press for driving more traffic to websites than LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ combined. It is a visual platform that is a huge pinboard of pictures and ideas. Its demographic is still largely females in the states and, yes, there are a lot of images of food, recipes, clothes, fashion and art. But, as with any social network, if you follow the right users you can create a feed that is interesting to you.

‘I work for Google and eat bacon’. Yes, as the name suggests, Google + is a social media platform that was created by, and is owned by Google. Their attempt to steal Facebook’s thunder in the social media game. The jibe that you have to work there to be on it is directed at the fact that the majority of Google + users work in the social media/tech industries and it hasn’t really yet found its way into the mainstream.

‘I’m listening to music about bacon’. Last.fm is an online portal for listening to and sharing music, similar to Spotify. Spotify is now owned by Facebook and the notion of sharing what you are listening to, as you are listening to it, with your social media contacts is becoming increasingly popular and common place.

So, there we have it, social media explained in a bit of a tongue-in-cheek way – but also a useful topline round up I hope.

Social Monkey is running some social media training workshops in 2013in Fakenham and Kings Lynn to find out more click here.

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As a technophobe and twitter novice, Mel patiently and coherently talked me through the use of social media for my business. She then set up and ran a great campaign. Having these new skills has been an empowering revelation.

Really excited about my social media training session with you this morning – my head is just buzzing with all the really useful things I’ve learnt and how they are going to help me stay on top of my social media on a really practical, everyday level. You also included so much more than I […]

Melanie Harriss of Social Monkey has been in charge of our social media presence here at Fabcom for just a few months but in that short time she has managed to build our contact list and general profile really well. One of the Fakenham Area Business Community’s main aims is to develop local business networking […]